Composition in the Classical Tradition

By Frank J. D'Angelo

Composition in the Classical Tradition borrows from late antiquity a series of composition exercises called the progymnasmata to teach the art of persuasion. The exercises apply an understanding of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0023271418
• ISBN13: 9780023271410
• Release Date: September 1999
• Publisher: Pearson
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.2" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Systematic Approach to Composition Instruction

To the best of my awareness, this is the only textbook in vernacular English concerning the progymnasmata, a series of exercises used in the eastern Mediterranean in late Antiquity to teach the steps preparatory to crafting a formal speech or argument in the public sphere. Though classicist George A. Kennedy has translated the surviving Greek handbooks into English for study (q.v.), this book is the only one to incorporate current rhetorical and literary theory in the process of creating a finely crafted preparatory argument. This book assumes familiarity with written English but no prior training in creating written argument. The author's target audience appears to be lower-division high school students and other such inexperienced writers. The text includes a synoptic, and perhaps overly pat, introduction to the process of formal argument, but this intro is not necessary to understand the exercises. The approach is systematic and each chapter builds on the processes introduced in the prior chapter. Thankfully, this text does not limit itself to the progymnasmata as laid out in the ancient handbooks. It draws on arrangement structures and concepts from rhetoricians like Quintillian and Cicero to amplify the steps. The chapters are detailed without being prolix, and complete without being wordy. Some of the discussion and writing questions seem a little abstruse; I frequently find myself making up my own questions and assignments for my students rather than relying on those in the book. When I was learning how to teach composition, I remember my teacher and my fellow students lamenting that there was no systematic approach to the teaching of writing. We felt we were flailing like drowning people in deep water. Imagine my pleasure on discovering that exactly this sort of methodical teaching process has been in existence for millennia. Why this system isn't better known I cannot imagine, but the fact that an orderly teaching method already exists is a godsend to me, and probably will be to other composition teachers as well.

A writing teacher's most valuable find.

An invaluable resource! I have been using the progymnasmata to teach writing for two years and I have been looking for a book like this. This book provides richness and depth to understanding the progymnasmata exercises by placing them squarely into the rhetorical handbook tradition. It will give me and my students an even better understanding than before.

A fantastic resource and textbook

This is perhaps the only easily available resource with the progymnasmata exercises. A valuable book.